Caroline Flint statement on Sir John Chilcott's Inquiry

Posted by Caroline Flint0pc on July 06, 2016

Caroline Flint said:

“This is the third enquiry since the Iraq war some 13 years ago.

“After a seven year investigation, and a 2.6million word report, I hope there is now significant agreement on some key issues of debate, before and after the war. First, the intelligence of Saddam’s weapons and capability was faulty; the plan to reconstruct Iraq after the conflict was inadequate and, at times, the MOD left our troops badly resourced.

“But the Inquiry also found no bad faith by those who supported removing Saddam Hussein, no falsification or improper use of intelligence, no deception of the Cabinet and no prior secret commitment to war. The Inquiry rejects the accusation that the Government’s Iraq dossier had been manipulated; and determined that the Prime Minister did not deliberately mislead Parliament. The assertion that the UK went to war on a lie is refuted by the Chilcott Inquiry.

“I supported the action in good faith, because I believed at the time that Saddam Hussein was a threat to his own people and to the region. Saddam was a war criminal responsible for the deaths of over a million people during his time, used chemical weapons on his own people, and invaded and threatened his neighbours. We all honour those who served our country and lost their lives or were injured helping to remove that tyranny or rebuild Iraq after.

“I believe many lessons have been learnt about what we must do before any intervention in another country. But we have also seen the cost of not doing so, not least in Syria in 2011 where the UK stood back and Assad killed and displaced many of his own people.”

The full report can be found HEREThe Inquiry findings:• That there was no falsification or improper use of intelligence (paragraph 876 Vol 4)• No deception of the Cabinet (paragraph 953, Vol 5)• No prior secret commitment to war (paragraph 572 Vol 1)